Yes, we're home having arrived Thursday night about 11 PM after a 2-day drive from Seattle (15 hours of that on Thursday due to threats of a major winter storm along I-80 in Wyoming on Friday).
What an incredible trip this has been. But I get ahead of myself so let me finish the last 13 days. Our campsite at Fort Casey State Park on Whidbey Island was so pleasant that we stayed there for five nights pretty much just hanging out and hiking the coastal trail up to the Spanish American War batteries and light house. Our weather was perfect and the campsite directly on the shore of Puget Sound was one of the best we've had. Because the Washington State Ferry terminal was an easy walk from the campsite, one day we took the Ferry to Port Townsend, a very pleasant town on the Olympic Peninsula that reminds me very much of Boulder.
On the 30th, we hooked up YOW, drove to another Ferry terminal at the south end of Whidbey Island, took it across to Everett, Washington on the mainland then drove to A & Suzie Streich's home (Harley's cousins). What wonderful hospitality they provided including a place for YOW in their side yard. Lots of family activities as both of their "children" live nearby and have families of their own. While I made a quick trip to Chicago for a NAR International leadership meeting on the 2nd and 3rd, Harley made some repairs, washed YOW, picked 5-quaarts of blackberries, did errands and generally relaxed.
Over the weekend we met our good friends, Pili & Dave Meyer, for lunch and a tour of the Chateau Ste. Michelle winery in Woodinville, a suberb of Seattle. We then spent the night in Seattle, dined at the Icon, a great restaurant, and spent much of Sunday exploring Seattle's waterfront icluding the Pike Place Market which should be a model for all cities. Sunday evening we were at the Sea-Tac Doubletree where the Washington Association of REALTOR's Education Convention was held on the 6th and 7th. I was privileged to teach a class we'd designed,"Strategies for a Flattening World" (with Pili and PeggyAnn), and then the Transnational Referral Certificate course.
We returned to Al & Suzie's on the evening of the 7th just in time to watch the 2nd presidential debate. About 9:30 AM on Wednesday the 8th we began the 1,352.8 mile trip home to Yatahai. Harley drove the first 453.3 miles on Thursday, the remainding 899.5 miles on Thursday...what a driver! Our last campsite was at Farewell Bend State Park in SE Oregon on the Snake River...an appropriately named site on the Oregon Trail.
So what made this road trip so incredible? Adventure after adveture, health and happiness spread over 86 days, good times spent with friends both old and new, fabulous scenary and wild animals at home in the wildernesss that surrounds them. We couldn't have done it without YOW and Babe who've become members of the family.
Now a few statistics.... The total trip was 11,751.8 miles and that included two +/-1,000 mile side trips, one to Inuvik in the Northwest Territories by way of the Dempster Highway and one to Prudehoe Bay in Alaska by way of the Dalton/Haul Road Highway. Yes, the price of diesel was high but a total of $5,385.86 really doesn't seem that high especially given that works out to $0.458/mile! (No, I didn't convert Canadian $ into U.S.$ but it's close to par. I also don't know how many gallong we used sice I didn't convert Canadian liters into U.S.gallons.) And, no, I haven't calculated the money spent on campsite fees (average about $15/night but several were free) and the few nights we spent at B&Bs. I also haven't calculated what we've spent on groceries, wine and liquor..sometime I'll probably do all of that; if you're curious, let me know.
All and all it was a fabulous, incredible trip and we loved having you along in your armchaiars! For now, this blog is on hold until we take another trip...the ones we have planned are a cruise in November to Spain and the Mediterranean and several months at Yatahai Southwest in Tucson early in 2009. Do come along!
Sunday, October 12, 2008
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